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Gingrich Already Naming His Cabinet — But Is that Legal?

By

Sam Favate

Dec 8, 2011 12:55 pm ET

The Associated Press

We’ve all seen the reports that Newt Gingrich is surging in polls for the Republican nomination for president. In a report today, even David Axelrod, President Obama’s chief adviser in his re-election bid, acknowledged Gingrich’s resurgence and says he could be the nominee.

But twice yesterday, Gingrich said that, if elected, he’d name former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton to be secretary of state, according to The Washington Times. The problem, as Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire points out, is that candidates naming who they’d appoint to office prior to an election can, in some cases, be illegal. . .